At the turn of Hong Kong history in 1997, the 1st Shakespeare Conference was held at Hong Kong Baptist University. Now, after almost three decades, we warmly welcome all of you to the Hong Kong International Shakespeare Conference jointly  organized by Hong Kong Baptist University & The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, with the theme of “Transplantation of Shakespearean Drama into Asian Culture”. 

       To celebrate the 462nd Shakespeare’s birthday in April, we have invited 8 distinguished Shakespearean scholars and 2 renowned performers from the UK, the USA, Japan, mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to serve as plenary speakers. They are respectively Prof. Michael Dobson (Director of Shakespeare Institute), Prof. Alexa Alice Joubin (George Washington University), Prof. Hirohisa Igarashi (Toyo University), Prof. Suzuki Masae (Kyoto Sangyo University), Prof. Cong Cong (Nanjing-Birmingham-Phoenix Shakespeare Centre), Prof. Min-hua Wu (National Chengchi University), Prof. Kwok-kan Tam (The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong) and Prof. Howard Choy (Hong Kong Baptist University). 

      While Shakespeare’s works are globally acclaimed, this conference will also explore how his plays have been localised and adapted into different Asian theatre forms, such as Cantonese opera, Japanese Noh, Taiwanese Yu opera, and Korean Changgeuk opera. To this end, we have included two unique performances and post-performance talks into our programme, of which one is a staged excerpt from a Cantonese opera adaptation of Hamlet performed by Mr. Keith Lai, director, playwright and actor of Arrant Revenge. Another is a Japanese Noh adaptation of Shinsaku Noh Othello from the Hosho School Noh Master, Mr. Manjiro Tatsumi. Another highlight of our three-day conference will be a book launch on “New Books in the Shakespearean Field”, which features Prof. Alexa Alice Joubin’s Transitional Shakespeare, Gender, and Adaptation (Cambridge University Press) and Dr. Miriam Lau’s The Making of Hong Kong Shakespeare: Post-1997 Adaptations and Appropriations (Palgrave). 

       Finally, we are grateful for the funding support from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. UGC/IIDS23/H01/25), and for the tremendous support we received from our organizing committee and from our two universities. We look forward to seeing all of you in Hong Kong in April, where Shakespeare knew this season’s quickening well: “proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, hath put a spirit of youth in everything” (Sonnet 98). May the blossoming of springtime refresh our scholarship and our stages alike.  

Dr. Miriam Lau & Dr. Anna Tso 

Conference Co-Chairs